---

11 Nov 2004 : Column 859W—continued

Consultants

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much expenditure her Department has incurred in each year since 2002 on employing external consultants to deal with press and public relations; and if she will make a statement. [195443]

Ruth Kelly: The Department spent £13.39 million and £15.93 million on external consultancy in the financial years 2002–03 and 2003–04 respectively. External consultancy encompasses several areas including financial, information technology and communications.

Expenditure on press and public relations consultancy is also contained within the external consultancy figures and cannot be separately identified without incurring disproportionate cost.

Consultation

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the organisations and individuals outside his Department who are (a) sent information on and (b) consulted about individuals who may be proposed for appointment to posts for which he is responsible. [195952]

Mr. Milburn: Those consulted in relation to Duchy appointments depend upon whether the appointment is public or personal to Her Majesty the Queen; many of which are ceremonial.

Public appointments apply almost entirely to the Palatinate magistracy. Local advisory committees are set up for the recruitment and subsequent recommendation of suitable candidates for appointment as Justice of Peace.

Personal appointments by Her Majesty the Queen are not public appointments but, in each case, wide consultation is undertaken with the Duchy Officers as well as: the Lord Lieutenants of Lancashire, Merseyside and Manchester; Lancashire county council; the Prime Minister's Secretary of Appointments; local parish committees; and various local bodies and individuals with relevant experience of the post or who may know an identified candidate for the position.

Departmental Properties/Staff

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the properties occupied by (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) its agencies in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2004, stating (A) for each and (B) in aggregate the area; and what the aggregate rental value was in each year. [195128]

 
11 Nov 2004 : Column 860W
 

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 1 November 2004]: Figures requested in respect of the Cabinet Office's estate are as follows:

	2004–05
Building	Size (m(7)) (n/a)	Rental value as at April 2004 (£)
Cabinet Office buildings
70 Whitehall(6)	7,319	19,930,000
10–12 Downing Street(6)	3,388	16,700,000
36 Whitehall(6)	2,031	6,600,000
53 Parliament Street(6)	892	3,400,000
Centre for Management Policy Studies College (Sunningdale)	2,411	2,070,000
Centre for Management Policy Studies College (London)	1,896	n/a
GOGGS/1 Horse Guards Road	323	n/a
7 St. James's Square	1,202	388,000
Admiralty Arch(6)	7,383	23,500,000
22 Whitehall(6)	4,579	20,000,000
9 Whitehall	1,622	567,000
10 Great George Street	1,354	504,000
35 Great Smith Street	1,813	580,000
2 Little Smith Street	610	200,000
67 Tufton Street	2,087	674,000
Stockley House	2,937	1,087,000
St. Clements House (Norwich)	284	n/a
Grosvenor House (Basingstoke)	1,695	n/a
Emergency Planning College (Easingwold)(6)	10,230	n/a
Government News Network space (overall)
Newcastle	200	n/a
Manchester	419	n/a
Leeds	447	n/a
Birmingham	357	n/a
Bristol	309	n/a
Notts	172	n/a
Cambridge	220	n/a
London	156	n/a
Guildford	165	n/a
Scotland	29	n/a
NDS	110	n/a
Centre for Management Policies Studies College ( Edinburgh)	46	27,000
Hercules House (COI)	10,000	1,800,000
Total	66,687	98,709,000
Cabinet Office agencies buildings
GCDA London	5,806	615,000
GCDA Cardiff	143	7,400
GCDA Birmingham	26	1,150
GCDA Bradford	98	6,843
Total	6,073	630,393

⁽⁶⁾ Freehold properties. Remaining properties are either held as leasehold properties or via a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation (MOTO) with another department.
Notes:
1. Figures for 1997–98 and those marked 'n/a' can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
2. Figures for the size of buildings exclude space occupied by another Government department.
3. Figures shown under the 'rental value' column are as at 1 April 2004. For leasehold properties or those occupied via a MOTO, the figures shown are the estimated open market rental values. For freehold properties the figures are the 'existing use value' figures, adjusted to reflect any space occupied by other departments.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people in the Office earn more than a whole-time equivalent salary of £57,485 per year. [195332]

Ruth Kelly: Information of the number of civil servants in departments and agencies (where known) whose whole-time equivalent salary exceeds £57,485 per annum has been placed in the Library. The information provided is at 1 April 2004.
 
11 Nov 2004 : Column 861W
 

London Project

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the London Project. [195974]

Mr. Milburn: The Strategy Unit's London Project published its final report in July 2004. The work is now being taken forward by a Cabinet Committee chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Keith Hill).

Press Releases

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many press releases have been issued by her Department in each month of 2004; and if she will make a statement. [195442]

Ruth Kelly: The Government News Network (GNN) issues press releases on behalf of all departments except the Prime Minister's Office, the Scotland Office, the Wales Office and the Northern Ireland Office. The information requested is shown in the following table.
Period: January-October 2004

Department	Total Releases
Attorney Generals Office	24
Cabinet Office	81
Department for Constitutional Affairs	302
Department for Constitutional Affairs (Judicial Appointments)	165
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	179
Department for Education and Skills	141
Department for International Development	20
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	1065
Department for Transport	599
Department for Work and Pensions	255
Department of Health	396
Department of Trade and Industry	1492
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	597
HM Treasury	197
Home Office	458
Ministry of Defence	349
Office of The Deputy Prime Minister	854

Notes:
1. Departments not issuing through NDS—House of Commons, Northern Ireland Office, Privy Council Office, Scotland Office, Wales Office and Prime Minster's Office.
2. The above figures include both national and regional releases

Public Appointments

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what public appointments he has made since taking office. [195949]

Mr. Milburn: Since 13 September 2004 I have approved, as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the appointment of magistrates to the Benches within the Duchy area.

In making these appointments the Duchy follows the procedures laid down by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

The Duchy Office has appointed members to its Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace.

Furthermore, Advisory Committee Chairmen were appointed, selected from the existing Advisory Committee.
 
11 Nov 2004 : Column 862W
 

Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures her Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake to comply with the Sustainable Energy (CHP Provisions) Order 2003. [194425]

Ruth Kelly: Cabinet Office buildings in Whitehall make use of heating from CHP via the Whitehall District Energy Scheme, although this does not extend to CHP generated electricity.

We will aim to contribute to the CHP generated electricity commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate where there is likely to be no significant costs and/or further increase the percentage of electricity supplies currently being generated from renewable sources.

---